František Vláčil

Magician (1988)

A narration of episodes from the life of the famous Czech poet, Karel Hynek Mácha. Throughout the film, we witness a deep analysis of Mácha's complex character (his relation to another Czech writer of the time Josef Kajetán Tyl, his unbearable jealousy, ...

Shades of Fern (1986)

Based on the only extensive prose work by the surrealist painter Josef Capek, Shades of Fern most resembles the philosophical fairy tales and fables of Josef's older brother, the legendary Czech novelist and playwright Karel Capek. Two young poachers, more ...

Albert (1985)

Story of an extraordinary musician, violinist, who was famous, but his alcoholism led him to poverty. Now he is playing time from time to rich people. Then Albert meets count Delesov, who tries to change Albert's life. Two different characters, two ways of ...

The Little Shepherd Boy from the Valley (1984)

In 1947 by the Beskid mountains, the traces of war still linger, destroyed tanks dispersed throughout the farmland creating an eerie backdrop. This film follows a ten-year-old boy and the strange visions he encounters, his world of fantasy exacerbated with ...

Serpent's Poison (1982)

Her mother dead, 18-year-old Vladka travels to a remote village in the dead of winter to find the father she has never met. The happiness of their initial meeting gives way to the daughter's disappointment and concern over the hardworking man's alcoholism. ...

Concert at the End of Summer (1980)

A docudrama about four weeks in the life of famous Czech composer Antonin Dvorak. The drama - filled with many of Dvorak's compositions - begins when the composer suddenly decides to cut a concert in London and return home. While on the train, flashbacks r ...

Shadows of a Hot Summer (1978)

Ondrej lives on a farm outside a small town with his family. One day a group of men arrive at the family's house and the harmonious life they've led so far changes drastically for the worse. ...

Smoke on the Potato Fields (1977)

In this character study by Czech director Frantisek Vlacil, a stout middle-aged physician whose marriage has come apart establishes a practice in a small town. Gradually he's drawn into the lives of his patients—a childless couple, a pregnant girl with a ...

Sirius (1975)

In SIRIUS, a young boy whose most cherished companion is his loyal German shepherd devises his own form of resistance when the Nazis arrest his father, then order the confiscation of local canines, including his pet, to be retrained as attack dogs against ...

Art Nouveau's Prague (1974)

The Legend of the Silver Fir (1973)

According to one Beskydy Mountains legend, if you do a good deed you will see silver trees. Little Ondra knows trees like that. In his family's cottage hangs a picture showing silver firs, a person falling from a height and a watch. In art lessons Ondra pa ...

A City in White (1972)

Adelheid (1970)

In the aftermath of World War II, a soldier takes charge of a manor formerly owned by a German family and falls in love with the daughter, now a maid. Their relationship forces him to confront the tension between his love and his conscience. ...

The Valley of the Bees (1968)

Cast out by his father, young Ondrej joins the Order of the Teutonic Knights, where he is raised by strict monk Armin. After years of hardship, Ondrej escapes from the Order when he is wrongly punished, and sets out for his former home. Arriving to discov ...

Marketa Lazarová (1967)

Mikolás and his brother Adam end up with a young German hostage of noble blood during a robbery. While their clan prepares for the wrath of the German king, Mikolás is sent to pressure his neighbor Lazar into a defense pact. Persuasion fails and he abduc ...

The Devil's Trap (1962)

A small town is one day visited by a priest who is there on a secret mission. He is a member of the Inquisition sent to investigate the activities of a local miller. The miller and his son are the descendants of an old family whose ancestral home burned do ...

The White Dove (1960)

A poetic film about a dove getting lost on its way to Prague getting shot down by a paralyzed boy. An artist who finds the dove becomes friends with the boy. Together they take care of it bringing it back to recovery. ...

No Entrance (1960)

Two stories from the lives of border guards. In the story "The Pursuit", an experienced border guard and his young and inexperienced colleague follow the tracks of ski boots in a snowstorm. The second story, Wandering, is about a frontiersman whose wife wa ...

Clouds of Glass (1958)

A young boy's infatuation with flight is the subject of Vláčil's poetic, prize-winning early short, made for the Czechoslovak Army's film unit. ...

Garrison in the Peak (1956)

About meteorologists working on Lomničký štít. The film shows contrast between a man and mountains. ...

Letter from front (1956)

Tank Brigade (1955)

The fate of a tank crew on the most difficult part of the First Czechoslovak Independent Brigade's combat path during World War II. We also follow the fate of its commander, Sergeant Juraj Klimka. During the bloody battles for the Dukel Pass, he falls in l ...

Modrý den (1954)

Remembrance (1954)

Létání bez vidu podle systému OSP (1953)

Nový průmysl (1952)

Electricity Management (1951)

Electrical Injuries in Industry (1951)

A film about injury prevention. It shows how there is a risk of electrical injury when one fails to observe safety regulations. It presents examples of poor work practices and their associated risks. Then viewers are shown correct and safe work practices a ...

Thermal Revolution (1951)

Cure N. 2357 (1950)

A popular science film about the creation of a new drug, from the moment a chemist determines, based on the composition of a substance, that it might have medicinal effects, to the moment it finds itself in the patient's hand ...

In the Web of Time (1991)

Documentary about the making of the 1967 Czech film "Marketa Lazarova". ...

Rakovina vůle (1989)

An interesting look at love destroyed by the demon of drugs, which uses opera singing instead of spoken word. A story about the relationship of two young people and drug addiction. ...

My Sweet Little Village (1985)

The movie's main storyline follows the life of Otík, a young man, in a tight-knit village community. The sweet-tempered Otík works as an assistant truck driver with Mr. Pávek, his older colleague and practical-minded neighbor. Pávek's family takes care ...

Barrandovské nokturno aneb Jak film tančil a zpíval (1985)

The 50th anniversary of the Barrandov studios was celebrated with a spectacular show: many directors and other important people gathered in the expensive decorations of the Variety Theatre auditorium (built for the Circus Humberto series). They smiled and ...

The Snowdrop Festival (1984)

An episodic film about the inhabitants of Kersko, their hardships and their joys, most prominently hunting. A lyrical and humorous adaptation of writings by Bohumil Hrabal. ...

Spanilá jízda (1963)

In the Hussite times, religious truth was sifted even on the tips of weapons. When in 1430 the Hussites set out on a raid to Nuremberg, the so-called Spanila Cavalry, to defend their doctrine, the young commander of the cavalry, the landowner Keřský, who ...

Pět z milionu (1959)

Five short stories: The Master and the Twentieth Disciple; Every Week is Sunday; It's Boniface's Fault; The Raggedy Song; The Spider's Web. ...